Thyris II
Thyris II was the name of an icy planet one and a half times the size of Earth that orbited the binary stars known as Thyris A and B. Scientifically, the Thyris system is also known as Kepler-16, with the planet being known as Kepler-16c, with a icy gas giant being in orbit in front of it. Thyris II was an icy hellscape where temperatures a blisteringly cold -200 degrees at night, only becoming marginally better during the day when it reaches -150 degrees Celsius. Being larger than Earth, it was suggested that the gravity might be higher, but strangely, Thyris II only has a gravitational pull of 1.4G, only 40% higher of a pull, which is unusual given its size. This means that it is likely that the icy surface may have at one time been a global ocean, with the true surface being far beneath. Planetary Description Thyris II's condition is something of a mystery given the fact that it is in a position where it orbits two stars, which would give the impression that it should be much warmer. When scientists analyzed the other parts of the star system including Thyris I (Kepler-16b), a gas giant that orbited much closer than Thyris II. Even that planet only has a surface temperature of around -90 degrees Celsius. Thyris I lies on the edge of its habitable zone, but it is by no means habitable. Thyris II orbits farther away than its planetary sibling, which means that it is completely incapable of supporting life. Thyris II is approximately 6 billion years old, approximately 1.8 billion years older than Earth. This age made scientists raise their eyebrows. The reason for this is because Thyris A and Thyris B are both younger than this. What this has led scientists to believe is that Thyris II was not formed with the other planet in its star system. It is believed that Thyris II is in fact an extrasolar capture, where the planet was originally floating in space without a parent star when it was eventually captured in Kepler 16 A and B's sphere of influence, eventually becoming part of the star system. This is supported by a 20 degree angle of axial tilt compared to Thyris I, which means that at some time, it must have come in at an angle where it was snagged in the gravitational infuence. Scientists are unsure as to where Thyris II actually came from. There is very little to go on scientifically, which means that speculation is abound. Some believe that it was a rogue planet that was ejected from its original solar system billions of years ago when it was younger. This is so far the strongest theory while scientists try to figue out the details. Thyris II retains only a very thin atmosphere of nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide. Despite these, it is nowhere near breathable, being only .6% of Earth's own atmospheric pressure. Stars are visible in the daytime through whatever atmosphere there is. Clouds of water vapor hang close to the stratosphere of Thyris II. This causes snow to fall, but it is clear that there is no tectonic activity on Thyris II. The easiest way to tell is that no major faults have formed in the icy crust in continuous patterns which would suggest plate boundaries. Thyris II is geologically inactive, and probably has been for quite some time. The light from the suns may occasionally melt some ice that forms water vapor in the air. Scientists have also put forth a reason for this as well. When a gamma ray burst intercepts a solar system, it is possible for planets to lose their atmospheres in the particle streams, which may have been what happened to Thyris II before its ejection. But if the geological inactivity is true, Thyris was dead well before it was stripped of its atmosphere and cast away. Thyris II's true features are hidden underneath tens of kilometers of icy glaciers that cover the whole planet. The thickest ice sheet recorded comes to around 16 kilometers thick while the thinnest comes to around 2 kilometers. This has allowed scientists to image the planet through penetrating scans. Before ice covered the planet, Thyris II was a rocky world with deep basins that presumably were where oceans once resided. But these were oceans that covered most of the planet if the level of ice is to be believed, unless comets impacted the planet, adding even more water than what was there originally. The surface of the planet is relatively smooth, given the calmness of the planet. Every now and again, there are parts of the ice that forms lineae that are similar to those found on Mobius' version of Europa. This is thought to be caused by shifting masses in the ice itself. Unlike Europa where the lineae are colored red by chemicals captured by the moon, Thyris II's lineae are the same color on the inside as they are on the outside. Despite the thin atmosphere of Thyris II, winds do blow on the planet, but at around 40 miles per hour on average, so the environment can be windswept and eroded in some places, but not to an incredible extent. Ice columns are present in the northern and southern hemispheres that seem to have been carved from larger chunks of ice. These columns are roughly cylindrical and can reach heights of almost three hundred meters above the ice-scape or more. There is no life to speak of on Thyris II, not even germs have been found to exist on it. Its location so far away from Thyris A and B's combined habitable zone already puts it out of the running. Even extremophiles would have trouble moving through solid ice. There are theories that perhaps frozen samples of Thyris II's original life forms may be located in the very bottom of the ice sheets, but they are located so far beneath the surface of the sheets and under so much pressure, that it is impossible to reach them. When questions about terraformation were asked, the UNSC responded by saying that it was not worth the trouble. Development Thyris II, as with Thyris I, is not an optimal center for development. There is little need to construct any form of a facility on the planet when it is hostile to Human explorers. Thyris II is quite inhospitable to most sentient races, given the extreme temperatures. However, most of the water content is almost completely fresh, with only a small amount of saline chemicals present in the makeup of the ice. Every now and again, haulers travel to the Thyris system to remove ice through the use of robotic mining equipment that physically removes ice from the sheets, converts it to water within their storage tanks, and shuttle it back to the freighter in orbit. This makes Thyris something of an interplanetary watering hole, but also a place for colonies to get ice water from for sustainance. It is estimated that a planetary population of Earth would be able to have over a million years worth of water from Thyris II before recycling. There have been some talks from private corporations to set up a water mining operation on the planet, but currently the largest of the corporations, AstraAqua, is awaiting funding from the UEG. Chaos Emeralds What put Thyris II on the map for the UNSC was that it was the first planet where Chaos Emeralds were officially discovered in 3234 when a UNSC supercarrier called the Indomitable was transported to Mobius' solar system after triggering one of the Emeralds that was located somewhere within Thyris II, apparently, the Indomitable was close enough to feel the influence from the jewel, though this is not known why by the scientific community. Cursory inspection of the planet's surface does not show evidence of a Chaos Emerald, though more thurough investegations are being planned to search deeper using more refined detection methods. The UNSC wishes to gain knowledge of where the Emeralds reside outside of Earth, where only four have been found. This power has also been noted by Doctor Robotnik, an Overlander scientist who is obsessed with the Chaos Emeralds. In 3235, he set up mining operations to try and locate the jewel himself through strip mining parts of the icy crust. He was later located by the UNSC where his forces engaged the Human forces and eventually resulted in the Doctor's retreat from the Thyris system. As of 3239, no Chaos Emerald has been found, though the events of what happened five years prior insist that it must be there. What has scientists scratching their heads is that since the Emerald is not immedietely seen by scans, it suggests that it's buried deeper in the ice, perhaps as far down as Thyris II's actual surface, though this is seen as a scientific oddity. This would mean that the Chaos Emerald was present on Thyris II before its ejection from its parent star millions, perhaps billions of years ago. Some ask how the Emerald got there in the first place, which itself has sparked many different ideas on the subject ranging from the Forerunners to sheer dumb luck. Appearances *Soldier's Log (First Appearance) *Shadow in the Dark (Mentioned Only) Category:Planet Category:Locations